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Topic: Zero Headspace in Carboy (Read 5765 times)

Brewed a Munich Helles this weekend. I didn't stop the siphon at the right time and filled up my 5G carboy a little too much. When I added my starter it filled it up right to the neck. I expect basically all of the Krausen to blow off.

Should I remove some beer to create some headspace? I'll definitely be removing some yeast as well. Or just RDWHAHB and let it ride out? The blow off is in a 2qt pitcher so I'm not particularly worried about a mess.

I would expect a significant amount of yeast to blow out of the carboy but it will make beer. You could have stirred in the yeast and removed a quart or two of wort but it will be okay as-is. Just leave it go and watch the fill level next time around.

I would expect a significant amount of yeast to blow out of the carboy but it will make beer. You could have stirred in the yeast and removed a quart or two of wort but it will be okay as-is. Just leave it go and watch the fill level next time around.

Well, Krausen is mostly yeast, fermenting wort is yeast/wort If you remove all the krausen you have significantly reduced the ratio of yeast to wort whereas if you pull a couple pints out now, before the krausen has formed you are pulling both and the ratio of yeast to wort has not changed. If you want the best beer possible I would pull some now.

+1. Pull off half a gallon or so and let it ferment in a separate fermenter.

You guys pushed me over the edge on that decision. I figured it would be fine to let it ride but thought pulling would net the best product. So I sanitized my siphon, took the cap off the bottom and siphoned off a half gallon of trub-filled wort. It's in a gallon jug in my lagering fridge. I plan to decant off the wort and use as my next starter. Killed two birds with one stone!

OK, panic setting in. Do you think I racked off too much yeast if I sucked it up from the bottom? I thought it looked like they were in suspension but my gallon jug seems to be fermenting. I think I'll decant and put back the trub.....

OK, panic setting in. Do you think I racked off too much yeast if I sucked it up from the bottom? I thought it looked like they were in suspension but my gallon jug seems to be fermenting. I think I'll decant and put back the trub.....

Once you pitched, and the yeast started multiplying, the yeast are everywhere. When you pulled the trub and beer from the bottom, you most definitely got yeast in there, hence the fermentation. There should be no issues, and your beer in the carboy should be fermenting as well on its own. I would let it ferment itself out, and then decant it back into the beer when you rack to secondary or a keg. It should be clean as long as you used good sanitation.

When I read this first, I thought you were planning on using that as a starter of whatever yeast you originally used. But if you weren't, you aren't going to be able to use that for a starter, because as Sean said, its going to ferment because you already pitched the yeast.

That's one problem with working from home. You don't get to think things through before you do it. I should have left well enough alone, but ran downstairs, sanitized a container, decanted the first pull and poured the trub back in to the primary. It actually filled the headspace to a good level and I'm pretty sure about my sanitation so at this point I'm going to RDWHAHB, well at 5:00PM at least.....

I guess the container will keep fermenting a bit as I got some trub in there. I'll burp it every hour or so until it gets to 34F and the yeast fall out. I'll then decant that and use in my next starter.

Man, whenever you think you got this hobby figured out, in comes the curveball......

Brewed a Munich Helles this weekend. I didn't stop the siphon at the right time and filled up my 5G carboy a little too much. When I added my starter it filled it up right to the neck. I expect basically all of the Krausen to blow off.

Should I remove some beer to create some headspace? I'll definitely be removing some yeast as well. Or just RDWHAHB and let it ride out? The blow off is in a 2qt pitcher so I'm not particularly worried about a mess.

Dave

Anheuser-Bush uses a similar technique. Of course their techniuqe is a bit more sophisticated, but I would leave it as is. This is actually good in lager fermenting. Lagers have bottom fermenting yeast, and the active yeast will be insuspension. The blow-off is essentially trub and particulates, and as a result you will have a cleaner tasting Munich Helles.

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